Chatting with Hotel Innovator Ryan Rivett. Dive into the exciting world of hotel life with Ryan Rivett, the brain behind MyPlace Hotels. We're talking about how he started a unique hotel brand, his adventures in the business, and what it takes to stand out in the busy world of hospitality.

Ryan opens up about his grandad's legacy with Super 8 Motels and how MyPlace Hotels is changing the game in staying overnight. Join us for a journey through the ins and outs of creating a place that feels like ‘My Place’ every time you visit.

Listen in for a behind-the-scenes look at the hotel business, straight from a pro.

Welcome to the Hospitality Mentor Podcast.

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I'm your host, Steve Turk.

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Join me as we dive into the personal

stories of some of the world's

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best hospitality professionals.

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We follow the journey of their ups,

downs, and wild turns to find out

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what it truly takes to make it in

the amazing world of hospitality.

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Steve Turk: Welcome to another episode

of the Hospitality Mentor Podcast.

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And today I've got a new friend,

Ryan Rivett, the president and

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CEO of MyPlace Hotels of America,

Ryan, welcome to the show,

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Ryan Rivett: Steve.

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Thanks for having me on, man.

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It's it's great to be here.

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Steve Turk: Well, Ryan, we always jump

in with the first question of what was

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your very first job in hospitality.

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Ryan Rivett: Very first job in hospitality

goes back to working at a fishing

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lodge that my grandfather owned and

I was 12, 13 years old at that time.

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And got to experience doing all the,

all the small tasks that nobody else

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wanted to do sweeping and mopping the

cleaning boats and fish and doing dishes.

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And it was a pretty cool

experience because you really,

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it's a relatively small setting.

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There's maybe 15 to 20 guests there at any

given time, but it, but it's, it's full

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service and pretty high end clientele.

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So as a young guy, you

get to really experience.

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The things they like and don't like

some of the things you probably

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shouldn't see as a kid and some of

the stuff that teaches you about

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where you want to go as opposed to

doing dishes and sweeping floors.

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Steve Turk: Yeah, I was going to

say you're pretty young, 12 and

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13 working in that kind of place.

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Were you working with adults or

was it just kind of like family

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owned that you knew everybody?

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What was it like?

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Ryan Rivett: No, it's all It was

all hired people from the manager

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and the chef to the, to the fishing

guides and, and everybody else.

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And my grandfather was there and

lived on the Island during the summer.

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And so I stayed with him and, and you

oversaw, you know, my workload, but he

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was not an easy guy to work for either.

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So it was perfect.

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When I learned a lot from it.

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Steve Turk: So you're doing that.

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How long are you doing that?

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Just as a kid, are you doing

that through high school?

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Like what's, what's

the journey from there?

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Ryan Rivett: Yeah, I did.

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I spent at least six weeks of every

summer up there from probably that

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12 to 13 age up through college.

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And then after college, it was

time to have a job that lasted

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all 12 months of the year.

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So

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Steve Turk: what was the name of the

place that your, your grandfather had

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Ryan Rivett: Quest Alaska lodges.

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It was in Sitka, Alaska.

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So me pits.

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Steve Turk: And is that where

you're from or that you're just

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up there with your grandfather?

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Ryan Rivett: Well, it's just a,

just a summer thing fishing and,

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and and, and Alaska fishing in

particular has been part of my,

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my upcoming for my entire life.

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And, and so as, as it seems we do,

when we're in the hospitality business,

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when, when you find something you

really like to do, you turn it into

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a business and that's what it is.

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That's what it ended up being.

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It was we spent a lot of time in

the summers in Alaska fishing and,

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and there was an opportunity that

came up to, to, to buy this place

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and turned it into a business.

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And so it's been operating up there since.

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Steve Turk: That's amazing.

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So walk me through this journey here.

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Cause you know, I was trying

to do some research on you.

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You've got a lot of different

things that you've got going on.

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So what do you go to college for?

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Was it for hospitality?

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Was it something outside of it?

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Ryan Rivett: Yeah, no it was, it was,

I went for business administration

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with the idea, you know, I, I wasn't

a great student coming up in elementary

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school, middle school, high school.

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It was, I wanted to get out of there

and get to work as quickly as I could.

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And so when I got to college, the

guidance that I got from, from

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the people that I looked up to and

said, what do I go to school for?

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I know that I know I want to be in

the hospitality business because

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that's what I'd grown up experiencing.

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And really that's what got me excited.

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And so it was, The feedback that I got

was go to school for business, make sure

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you understand how to read a financial

statement, go to, go to school and, and

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if you got opportunities for electives

or you want to take a second major,

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study psychology, learn people, learn

how people work, learn, learn the

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basics and fundamentals of it anyway,

and, and you'll be better prepared

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to take on the hospitality business.

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And so that's what I did.

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I started in business and later dropped

psychology to focus and finish up

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business so I could out and get to work.

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Steve Turk: You g do you do?

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You create you you join in the

family bu that start going?

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Or do y brand?

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Ryan Rivett: So I did, I was, I florida.

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So started s To, I say back

to, but South Dakota is where

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my family's always been from.

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That's where I live now.

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So it was moving to South Dakota Wow.

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To finish.

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Did a couple of semesters in

college here to finish my business

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degree, and started working at

the same time and came right into

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businesses owned by my grandfather.

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He is the primary.

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You know, the patriarch of the

family and the one who started

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business 50 years ago now.

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And so it was kind of up to his

directive to, okay, I'm here, show

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me what I'm supposed to learn.

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And and man, I worked in everything.

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We're in, we're in farming,

we're in aviation business,

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we're in the construction.

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Development basically

complete vertical integration.

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That's all focused on hospitality

with the exception of maybe farming.

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But yeah, I kind of bounced around

for a couple of years, all of those

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businesses at lower levels, just

getting exposure to it, exposure to the

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people, to the, to the The work ethic

and, and I think one thing that rises

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to the top about that experience was

understanding how to navigate a business

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that you're going to be perceived as,

you know, the, the kid, the family

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guy coming in and getting a job.

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And what was great for me for that was

I recognize kind of the, the respect

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that that needed to have, and the

fact that I needed to make sure that,

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that I Worked as hard as I could and

showed everybody that I was there to

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work, not just to just to be there.

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So, you know, I, I, I did everything.

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A lot of, a lot of jobs that actually

could be characterized as, Hey, over

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the next couple of years, you're

going to learn what you don't want

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to do for the rest of your life.

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So what I want to do.

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Steve Turk: That's a really

important lesson, especially

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for a lot of people, you know?

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And so when you're doing this, cause

I was going through the list, you've

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got all different kinds of companies.

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Were these all family owned companies?

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Were these things that your

family was involved in?

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Kind of give us like the overview

of what you were going through.

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Ryan Rivett: Our, our our organization

prior to my place and me starting my

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place prior to that, we were really an

organization of individual partnerships.

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My grandfather, after he sold the

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really functioned as a family office.

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So some subsidiary service companies to

service most of our related entities

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and a handful of partners who are out

developing building and operating hotels.

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And so that's really how it

operated for almost 20 years before

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I joined the, the group in 2005.

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And, and at that point I, I

had an opportunity to become a

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partner in a development group.

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I, I earned in some sweat equity into

developing some apartments and learn

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construction, learn development from.

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A few of those partners who were

willing to actually take me in and

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teach me a lot of things and, and

allow me to ask enough questions

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to, to learn on my own from there.

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And so we developed some

apartments and then quickly from

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there moved to hotel development.

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I got to work alongside of those same

development partners for first couple

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of hotels I was involved in as, as not

necessarily a partner, but, but just a

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junior guy and, and taken You know,

directive and delegation from them.

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And so it was a learning process.

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The first five years of my career was

definitely mostly working for other people

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and learning with a few opportunities for

sweat equity partnership to kind of earn

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my way in and And that that really led

us to where we're at today, which is we

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had an idea to start a new hotel chain.

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Grandfather really had had wanted to

do that for quite a while, but just

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didn't have somebody around to to

defer to and to bring in with them.

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And so as he told me, it's, I've

been wanting to do this for a while

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and haven't been able to get anybody

else convinced, but you're here

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now and you don't have a choice.

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So that's what we're doing.

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Steve Turk: Well, I get, I want

to reverse back a little bit.

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Cause you touched on something pretty

fun and good to know is that your

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grandfather created super eight.

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The brand, is that what you're telling us?

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Ryan Rivett: Right?

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So he, and you know, an attorney

here in Aberdeen, South Dakota had a

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conversation over coffee in 1973 that led

to Building the first Super eight motel.

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They operated it here and, and

learned that it was working for them.

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And within the first year or two,

organize a franchise surrounding it.

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Built a couple more and happened

upon their first franchise sale.

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And it was kinda all history from there.

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From 1974 when the first property

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my grandfather sold the, the, the

franchise system to send in or HFS at

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the time it was all operated out of our

offices here in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

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And, and we still today own the

very first Super eight motel.

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We operated as a super eight and our

So cool to do so, so it's a amazing,

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that's some like, history in there.

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It's

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Steve Turk: a little bit like museum

stuff in there or is it all No.

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Would know the difference

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Ryan Rivett: in the lobby, but

you know, it's, it's business.

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It's it's all business.

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So we should at some point.

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Turn turn it into a bit more

of a memorial or, or have

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something more like that.

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Have people that stop in to

say they just wanted to see it.

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They had heard the words.

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Steve Turk: Yeah.

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I'm all about that.

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You know, it's fun.

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Like behind me, I have all these

like random things from the

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forties, twenties, thirties, all

these menus behind me from places.

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I just think it's cool.

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All that history.

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Ryan Rivett: Menus is also, that's

something I love to cook and love

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restaurants grew up in a family

that loved going out to eat in

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different places when we traveled.

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And Something that we somewhat

of a tradition we ended up

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picking up was collecting menus.

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So I've got a stack probably two and

a half feet high in the closet here

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at my office that I've talked about

getting out and getting on display.

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Some of them are pretty neat looking.

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Others are just say, I

remember when I went there, I

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Steve Turk: love that stuff.

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It's so funny that we got that in common.

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Cause there's that many of my

wife's like, what are you doing?

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I was like, well, I have the opening

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It's behind, I got it.

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She's like, cool.

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Okay.

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All right.

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Ryan Rivett: Those are great

history pieces right there.

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Steve Turk: It's just fun

to see the prices and what

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people were eating back then.

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It's kind of cool to see what everyone

was doing, but anyhow, you got this, you

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got your grandfather doing big things.

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And sometimes that can be

a little pressure, right?

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Like, Oh, my grandfather built this

and now I'm learning about hotels.

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So when you were learning about the

hotel being built, because you did

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apartments, which is one piece, but now

you're adding a whole other component of

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building hotels where people are in it

and going and it's not just living there.

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What was the difference

for you between the two?

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Ryan Rivett: I think, you know,

in the development process and in

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the conceptualization and early

implementation process, the difference

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between the apartments and the hotels

is you're constantly trying to think

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about a changing dynamic of people.

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With the hotels.

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And, and it's challenging.

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There's a fine line between staying

focused on the core competencies

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and concept of whatever brand it

is that you're building or whatever

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location you're building in.

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And then switching to the other

side of letting your mind wander and

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saying, okay, well, what if I have

this type of person, I need to have

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this and this type of guest, I need

to have this and this type of guest.

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And so I think a lot of, a lot

of times people get caught into

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that cycle of perpetual motion of.

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You know, trying to be everything

for everyone in an apartment.

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It's pretty straightforward to

give them basic space and let them

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outfitted the way they want in a hotel.

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You're you're trying to think

ahead of of a changing demographic

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and changing dynamic of people.

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And so I think that was

the biggest thing for me.

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It really leveled up the amount of.

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Brainpower it's required to put a project

together and then getting into operations.

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Of course, it just continues that

I'm trying to hear every piece of

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feedback that you can trying to you

know, stay engaged in day to day

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operations without micromanaging because

you want to know how it's working

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and what changes you need to make.

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Whereas.

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In the apartment business, you sort of

want to hear from them when it's time to

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rent, don't want to hear from them after.

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So you know fundamentally

they're, they're similar businesses

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cause in, in all cases you're

dealing with somebody's home.

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But the dynamics are so much

different that it really is, was

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just a significant level up and in

thought process and orientation.

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And and it was exciting, quite

frankly, I think that was, that

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was the best part about it was, and

still continues to be that is that.

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You're, you know, that you're walking

into years ahead of changing dynamics

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in your business and, and a lot of a

lot of effort and focus on people to

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make sure that you address those really.

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Steve Turk: And when you were

learning about the hotels,

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were you already seeing things?

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Like you weren't in charge at that time.

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Were you seeing things like, man, I wish

we could kind of push it this way, but

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you couldn't vocalize it, or were you

being kind of vocal in what you were

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doing or just, what was that dynamic?

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Like, I've got a good

history of working in them.

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Ryan Rivett: Yeah, one of the, one of the,

one of the kind of founding principles

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of my place when we started it was the

realization and the experience that

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Ron and some of the partners had had

after becoming, after going from being

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franchisor to then becoming franchisee.

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Obviously it's, it's anybody who's,

who's, you know, Owned and sold a

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house or owned a business and sold it.

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You walk back into that business or

you walk back into that house and see

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what the next person's done with it.

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And, and you immediately, whether

right, wrong, or indifferent,

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you criticize, you know, what you

see, it's not the way I did it.

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It's not right.

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And I think that that existed for

that entire period of time after super

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eight, but before my place where every

other branded hotel that we developed

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and built, well, by and large, we were

happy and very successful with them.

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Over that time, you just have that.

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have that instinct or that perception

towards them and that criticism

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because it's not what you created.

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And, and I think that's a, that's maybe

a cultural element of our company and,

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and in many ways, you know, Midwestern

people, we, we sort of build and create

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things and and, you know, when you live

in a state with a population density of.

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One person per 10 square miles.

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You little bit got to figure it

out on your own in some things.

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And so I think that was the case.

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And so when, when we walked into,

when I walked into the business, that,

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that perception was already in place.

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And I learned that, picked it

up right away of, you know,

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what could we do different?

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Well, always asking the question, why do

we do this and how do we make it better?

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How do we build a better mousetrap or,

or make more profitability out of it?

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Whatever the.

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The context may be, and so that's,

I'll say I, I acquired that and then

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very quickly learned what it meant

to me in beginning to build hotels

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alongside of other developers and

be engaged in that process and then

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transition into beginning to build

the first few, my places and, and build

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a chain of hotels that it's become.

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Steve Turk: All right.

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So let's talk about that.

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Cause I always liked the,

the origin story here.

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So.

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And the listeners do too.

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Like, how did this come about?

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Like, in my head, you're in Aberdeen,

South Dakota at a bar with your

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grandfather's on the back of a napkin,

or was it not even close to that?

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And how did it go?

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Ryan Rivett: Close.

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Actually we were we were at We were

all together at Thanksgiving and after

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Thanksgiving dinner, I don't know, kids

are running around doing their thing.

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People are playing board games.

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Generally that meant that, that

Ron and I ended up sitting in his

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office talking about business,

which was, which was great.

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That's what you do when you get together.

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That's the dinner table talk, the

after dinner talk, all of the above.

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And so that was the

conversation we were having.

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I was recapping for him some

things that I'd been working on

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some ideas that I had and that.

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Always transitioned into his

storytelling about the old days,

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about the current days and comparing

and contrasting all those things and

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said, you know, I think we ought to,

we ought to do something about it.

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I've been thinking about it for a

while and you know, you're here,

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you've got capacity to take on more.

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It's, you just started your

career, so let's do something.

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So his directive to me was, let's

start a, let's start a hotel brand.

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And what does it look like?

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Okay.

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What should it be?

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Where should we start?

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You know, put the package

together is what he said.

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And so that was the beginning of it.

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And I, I spent a few months

after that really trying to

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conceptualize what we needed.

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And I think it was a lot of looking at

the hotels that we had been building and

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operating, looking at the deficiencies.

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I went way back into Archive files

from Super 8 motels in the eighties and

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nineties to to compare and contrast,

you know, proportions and margins

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and and kind of create a vision

board of what I wanted to achieve.

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And okay, now let's see how

far we can go to get there.

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And so over over the course of several

months, it developed into a concept that

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From a financial and physical standpoint,

it all looked like it would work.

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And when we started talking about

where we should go to try it out.

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Steve Turk: So how did

the name come about?

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It was that something you had,

because a lot of people, like I

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work with logos first, like I need

my logo so I can visualize it.

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Was that first, was it last?

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How did that start going?

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The

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Ryan Rivett: logo came second and

through the course of developing

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the first project, in fact, in

fact, the first set of plans.

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Just say extended stay hotel on them.

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There's no logo or sign or anything on it.

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Because we deliberated over what

the name was for a long time.

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Had a lot of lists and, and

different notes and things on them.

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Put it out to family and friends

and, and employees and partners

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and asked everybody, Hey, what, you

know, give us an idea for a name.

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Here's a paragraph and a

statement about what it is.

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And got down to the wire.

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I think we had.

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8, 10, 12 weeks left before the

hotel was scheduled to open.

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We hadn't ordered signs yet, so

we had to figure something out.

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And we just sat down and said,

we're coming out of here with a name.

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And, and my place came out of that.

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And it, it really gives, you

know, an affectionate feel.

374

It was it was something that you

could embrace and, and we thought maybe

375

people would be able to embrace it.

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And I think they have.

377

So after that, it was, we had a

trademark battle for a couple of

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years trying to get that finalized.

379

And the logo was sort of a stand over

the shoulder of a graphic designer

380

and let him make, yeah, lines and

things on a page and add colors to it.

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And Obviously with the colors

that we have, there's a bit of

382

a nod to to, to super eight.

383

That's what I was going to say.

384

Steve Turk: I didn't want us,

I wanted you to say it before.

385

I

386

Ryan Rivett: think, you know, there's,

there's, there's some, there's some

387

fundamental basis for the colors

and the attractive value and how

388

they show up on any background.

389

But there's also definitely in the,

in the shape of the logo and the, and

390

the color scheme gives a, gives a tip

back to a prior success and something

391

that we intend to carry forward.

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Steve Turk: I love it.

393

So you've got the name you're got,

you said you want to do extended stay.

394

Was that always the case?

395

You didn't want to venture into something

else or was extended stay your goal?

396

Ryan Rivett: Well, I think extended

stay came out of the, the, the due

397

diligence and looking at what the

hotel industry needed, what was going

398

to be, you know, most sought after.

399

And, and I think at that time, what

extended stay represented six, 7

400

percent of the, of the industry supply.

401

And, and we've grown so much since then.

402

But still relatively small in terms of the

total supply in the country and so popular

403

with the flexibility and the ability

to satisfy the customer and kind of any

404

type of stay or any dynamic of need.

405

So that's how that came about.

406

Now, it wouldn't be wouldn't be against

You know, other forms of hospitality,

407

other segments or, or or, or models,

but that's the one we started with

408

and it's worked out really well.

409

Steve Turk: I love it.

410

And so do you remember the

opening day of the first one?

411

Where is the first one?

412

Was it an Aberdeen?

413

The first one?

414

Ryan Rivett: It wasn't, we We decided

to build the first one in Dickinson,

415

North Dakota, small town during an

oil boom and figured, Hey, if we're

416

going to learn how to do something,

might as well do it somewhere.

417

There's a lot of people

that need hotel rooms.

418

And at that time there was, and since

tapered off, but, but I do remember

419

that in fact, spent a lot of time there.

420

Where.

421

We have a construction

company in house as well.

422

And so general, general

contractor, we build for ourselves

423

and some other clients as well.

424

So that company was, was there.

425

And, and so a lot of, a lot

of a lot of connectivity with

426

the everyday goings on and, and

427

Steve Turk: so good.

428

So you're building your own place.

429

Ryan Rivett: Yeah, that

was, that was what it is.

430

In fact, we had to, the the FF and

E subcontractor that was hired on

431

the project ended up, I'm not sure

what happened to him, but he kind of

432

unraveled about two weeks before it

was supposed to open and left about

433

15 percent of the job left to do.

434

And actually myself and two other guys

from the office here jumped in the

435

truck and drove up there and spent

two weeks on the project, finishing,

436

installing, screwing and everything.

437

Putting, putting doors and frames

up and putting flooring down.

438

And so I, I actually, you know, had

a hand in building the first hotel.

439

Steve Turk: I love it.

440

That's me.

441

Part of the history in the first

one, when we look back in 30 years,

442

we'll have a picture of Ryan.

443

I hope you got some pictures of

you doing all those things, man.

444

Ryan Rivett: I don't know.

445

Probably not once I want anybody to see.

446

Steve Turk: Well, all right.

447

So you got the first one open.

448

It's one thing to open one, right?

449

Luckily you, your family has

been doing this for awhile.

450

How do you start to say, all

right, was the plan always to grow?

451

Are you.

452

Owning all the hotels,

are you franchising them?

453

How, what's the model right now?

454

Ryan Rivett: So franchise

is definitely the objective.

455

It's how we formed the company initially

knowing that's where we were headed.

456

And what was known from experience and,

and things is that we needed to build

457

some, we needed to seed some markets

to get the concept out there, get the

458

product out there be able to be seen

and recognized and, and get people to.

459

To want to take the, take

the leap and to join us.

460

And so we we sat about,

let's see, we opened the first

461

property in February of 2012.

462

We started properties number two and

463

12 and then four and five about

464

So in 12, 13, 14, we opened the first,

I think nine or 10 hotels during

465

that period of time, all owned by

us, we sold our first franchise

466

to an unrelated group in 2014.

467

And they got going right away and

opened up and it, and it sort of.

468

Kept going from there.

469

And, and we continue say we,

our, our organization of related

470

partnerships continues to build

and, and own and operate my places

471

today, but our franchisees have far

outweighed our related party growth.

472

So it's, it's been huge reward to, as

we've grown from, you know, that first

473

one in 2012 to now 114 franchises.

474

We've got 70 of them open, a

handful more that are coming

475

in the next few months here.

476

So it's, it's just, the snowball keeps

getting bigger and it's a lot of fun.

477

Steve Turk: All from

a Thanksgiving dinner.

478

I love seeing this exploding.

479

So you've got all this going on,

you know, I think for a lot of

480

people out there, You've never

experienced a franchise model.

481

They're like, right.

482

How do you control like

the standards in place?

483

Like these, it's one thing

when you own them, right?

484

Cause you know, the place you drew

them out, you've been in the business.

485

How do you ensure that the franchisees

are doing what they're supposed to and

486

not messing up that brand you created?

487

Ryan Rivett: Well, I think that's,

that's something that in research and

488

observation that I've had, a lot of people

have gone into it and made the mistake of.

489

Assuming people won't take

something you created and screw

490

it up if you let it right.

491

So we recognize that that

would be pretty easy to do.

492

And so we set out from the very

beginning to put the infrastructure

493

and the different mechanisms in place

to allow us to control the growth

494

to be able to train and and monitor

the properties that are out there.

495

And of course, Thank you.

496

first few years.

497

It's relatively small.

498

It's pretty easy to grasp as

it's gotten to where it is today.

499

It's it's a bigger challenge and scaling.

500

It has been remarkably rewarding, but

you know, we put in we put into place

501

right away quarterly quality inspections.

502

Somebody from my place

corporate is in every one of

503

the hotels every three months.

504

We put in place right

away a training team.

505

And, and so, you know, we had, we had the

foresight, I think, or maybe just the,

506

the intelligence to look back at what

worked previously, what we were missing

507

as developers and operators building for

the other brands that we were building

508

for in the period just before this.

509

And so looking at all those

things and saying, Hey, we've

510

designed this to make sense to us.

511

We've designed it to be.

512

You know, replicated by others.

513

What did we need?

514

What do we need?

515

And so oftentimes people, franchisees

that enter our system make the comment

516

or, or have the recognition that,

that as a franchise or we operate more

517

like a management company than we do a

franchise or in, in that, in the manner

518

in which we, we provide the support.

519

And so I think that's really focusing

on the practical application.

520

Of supporting a franchise system

rather than focusing just on the

521

aesthetic or just on the franchise

development, but, but knowing that

522

we've got, you know, the infrastructure

to pop behind it that, Hey, we're

523

not just going to sell the franchise.

524

And then, you know, it's your way.

525

We want you to continue

to grow and develop.

526

You know, my places are generally

smaller than everybody else.

527

We're 64 units as a,

as a typical prototype.

528

And so you got to build a few of them

because it's easy to do, you know,

529

you, that, that's part of the idea too.

530

Why put 80 to 120 rooms in

one location when we can have.

531

A lot more quick diversity

by spreading it out.

532

It takes a little work to get it

going, but once you do, you can't stop.

533

Steve Turk: So, all right,

I'm in Miami beach here.

534

That's where my offices are in Miami.

535

I want to open up a, my place hotel.

536

What happens?

537

What do I need to do?

538

I apply.

539

I have to have a certain amount of money.

540

Do you reject people a lot?

541

Is there a certain piece of land?

542

Is there a building?

543

What do they need to do?

544

Ryan Rivett: Yeah, of course there's a

typical application process and, and,

545

and we want to make sure that from

our perspective you know, this model,

546

this, this concept and things are

right for the business plan that, that

547

any franchisees trying to execute on.

548

And of course we want

to make sure through.

549

building an initial relationship

that we're the right people for them.

550

And so I think that that part

of it is all pretty standard,

551

nothing out of the ordinary.

552

We do jump in right away looking

at markets and looking at

553

locations within the market.

554

I think Some of the, some of the,

you know, typical or stereotypical

555

locations for extended stay hotels.

556

Often they're off the beaten path or

kind of out back which works for some.

557

Our focus has always been on

prominent real estate inside

558

of established hotel markets.

559

Now there's some caveats to that, but

you know, that's generally the focus.

560

You need, you need you need a fair

amount of money to get it done.

561

And and I think that.

562

You know, in that regard and the

application process, we're really

563

not any different than anybody else.

564

Steve Turk: So now it's interesting.

565

You started 2012 Airbnb was kind

of just starting around that time.

566

2016, 2018 is kind of when

it started blowing out.

567

Right now you're starting to see

hotels get into extended stay as

568

well, other hotel groups, right?

569

It's kind of become like the hot thing.

570

Ryan Rivett: Some

571

Steve Turk: brands coming out.

572

How are you seeing that kind

of change what you're doing?

573

I

574

Ryan Rivett: don't think it's

changing what we're doing.

575

We're well enough established at

this point, and the runway ahead

576

of us is pretty clear and open.

577

And so we're, we're not

changing anything we're doing.

578

It is interesting to see that,

that the say, the segment

579

develop around us a little bit.

580

There's been relatively few participants

in it over the, over these initial years.

581

And so you know, you definitely.

582

Constantly watching what everybody

else is doing and seeing how that's

583

going to fit above, below, beside

where we fit into the marketplaces.

584

I think, you know, Airbnb and, and other

you know, short term housing rentals

585

and things haven't really been impactful

on, on us at this point probably

586

primarily because, you know, there's

the biggest saturation of those is in,

587

you know, Urban markets are in urban

cores, and that's not where a lot of our

588

properties are not not that type of hotel.

589

And so fortunately, that hasn't

hasn't been impacting on us, at

590

least not to a noticeable degree.

591

Now, all the new product that's coming

in new brands and things are, like

592

I said, they're exciting to watch.

593

It's interesting to see some things that

When a new concept is launched and you

594

look through it and you say, oh, yeah,

I remember thinking that would work too.

595

I remember thinking that would work too.

596

I've learned that lesson.

597

So I think that's been

reassuring as well as that.

598

You know, we see some of those same

elements that we've had to learn and

599

grow out of or grow through that.

600

Are clearly visible in some

of the new product out there.

601

And so it'd be interesting to

watch it develop and I'm sure

602

there'll be opportunities for us to

capitalize on inside of that growth.

603

Competition's a good thing.

604

It's not, not anything to

to Run away from for sure.

605

Steve Turk: And I like the

aesthetic of what you're creating.

606

It's as a unique look at an F if

you're not driving, make sure to pause

607

this, check out my place, hotels.

608

com.

609

You can see all the

different cities are in.

610

They've got a great website and

something that caught my eye was

611

that you have a rewards program.

612

Was that something you

thought about beforehand?

613

Because it seems like that's very powerful

now, especially as you're growing.

614

That's something you had thought about.

615

Ryan Rivett: It, it was it was not.

616

A major part of the early concept

or early business plannings.

617

I think I probably undervalued

it longer than I should have.

618

We started the rewards

619

we started development on in 2017

and we had I had a great opportunity

620

timing came together at in 2017 we're

starting to get to I think we were, you

621

know, 40 some properties at that time.

622

And so, just big enough to where

it might make sense to start

623

administering some sort of rewards

program and, and at the same time.

624

A person who had worked for super eights.

625

She started, I think, in maybe 86 or seven

in and working primarily in the, in the

626

rewards program continued through with

HFS and then send it and then Wyndham and

627

actually their offices here in Aberdeen

628

with, with her, I'd known her all my life,

got connected with her and said, Hey, you

629

want to go back to work in the rewards.

630

Business and she said,

yeah, so it was great.

631

And we were able to

walk in as a new brand.

632

We were able to walk a 30 year

veteran and hotel rewards and

633

to help us develop the program.

634

My place stay rewarded is has

been a really great success for us.

635

We've got I think we're approaching

around 300, 000 active members

636

in the rewards program today.

637

We've been able to push it through

and, and get You know, team members

638

at the hotel level on board with it.

639

And they're doing a fantastic job

with getting the word out to people

640

with servicing the loyalty guests.

641

And, you know, at last look, we

were somewhere around 55 percent of

642

our reservations across the chain

are, are stay rewarded members.

643

So huge reward for us in that we know

more about the guests that we're serving

644

when they participate in the rewards

program, great rewards for the guests.

645

They're, you know, cash based.

646

gift card type rewards are the primary

ones that people are redeeming.

647

And, and building the infrastructure

wasn't necessarily easy, but it's,

648

it's worked out really well.

649

Steve Turk: And so are you using that

data to actually make things better

650

for the guests or is it just kind

of like, Hey, you got their emails

651

and, oh, and you send them stuff.

652

Ryan Rivett: For sure.

653

We, we look at different elements of.

654

in the rooms, different elements

of service at the property level.

655

I should say, not just in the rooms.

656

And, and compare that with what we're

seeing guests of those demographics or

657

from those areas of the country comment

most about on, on different platforms,

658

the social media, and what's great about

it is you can, you can cross reference

659

all of the social media and, and search

engine optimization measures and, and

660

different digital marketing elements.

661

Of review and response with the, the

demographic information you learned

662

from the loyalty program guests and, and

better gauge what certain hotels that

663

do most business with, you know, these

five feeder cities or things like that.

664

It's, it's, it's not something that

I personally work in too deeply, but

665

I always love getting involved in

those conversations with the loyalty

666

team and learning what they're

learning and how they're, what their

667

recommendations are on implementation.

668

Steve Turk: Especially with AI stuff now.

669

So like everything's getting faster.

670

You can take all this big data

and like pump it out and like.

671

Decisions quickly.

672

It's been interesting to see

what I do with big hotels is wow.

673

I can take all this reviews for years and

years and actually do something with them.

674

Ryan Rivett: Right.

675

Yeah.

676

And that, and that's the thing I think,

you know, with all the technology

677

that we've got around us you can have

all the information in the world, but

678

if you don't have a way to process

that data and actually do something

679

with it, it's sort of worthless.

680

And so I think that's the biggest area

where AI is beginning to impact our

681

businesses is being able to aggregate

and analyze data so much more quickly

682

by, you know, much more simple queries.

683

Steve Turk: I love that you're doing it.

684

Cause I talked to a lot of big companies

and they're still not using it.

685

So you're already.

686

Ahead of many.

687

So keep with, well,

688

Ryan Rivett: you know, I, I'd

love to be, I'd love to be as big

689

as our biggest competitors today.

690

But at the same time, you know,

one of the greatest things about

691

the size and and scale that we are

right now and the stage of growth we

692

are right now is that we're nimble.

693

We, we can make changes in a

meaningful way pretty quickly.

694

And, and so when we listen, we

hear what people have to say.

695

We can turn around and implement changes.

696

That doesn't mean we always do,

because you're constantly changing.

697

You, you really can't nothing,

but but yeah, we've, we've seen

698

that in play and, and, and be

very effective for, for everyone.

699

Steve Turk: Very cool.

700

Well, I'm not asking for your

five year business plan, but what

701

are you most excited about for

the next 12 months, 24 months?

702

What are you most excited about yourself?

703

Ryan Rivett: You know, I think

the franchise growth has been the

704

biggest focus for me and that's

what I'm most excited about.

705

I think, you know.

706

Going into, had a lot of momentum going

707

22 began, began to be a little bit

slow in terms of development with some

708

people holding off because of some

circumstances that were in play and in

709

23, that really began to ramp back up.

710

And so after seeing 2020.

711

You know what what a hurdle looks

like in terms of franchise growth

712

in the last couple of years, seeing

that take back off again, seeing

713

new new groups and new demographics

of franchisees come into our system

714

because of, you know, shifting dynamics

of our economy and the hotel industry

715

and the different, you know, Then,

you know, new interest in the extended

716

stay segment has been a ton of fun.

717

So we've got a lot ahead of

us in the next 12 months.

718

Next 2436 is great.

719

I think we're going to, we're going

to continue to see the scaling of the

720

company happen incrementally and the

teams grow and, you know, So it's kind

721

of all exciting, but you know, my daily

focus is, is heaviest in the franchise

722

development side of the business.

723

So I, I get most used up about that.

724

Steve Turk: Yeah, man, close those deals.

725

I love seeing the growth that you

guys have had here, especially

726

over the last couple of years.

727

I see you guys have been

growing very quickly.

728

So look, Ryan, we've taken up

a lot of your time here, but

729

one last question for you.

730

So if you were coming out of college

today, young Ryan's walking into

731

your office, what advice do you

have for him if he's starting today?

732

Cause it's very different

when you started.

733

Ryan Rivett: Oh boy, that's a good one.

734

I think, I think, you know, some input

that I got when I was, when I was in

735

college and high school, I can't quite

remember when, but I've continued to

736

have a focus on it today and refer back

to early memories about it is to listen.

737

Just make sure you're always listening.

738

I think a lot of people jump into

a professional setting, jump into

739

the first part of their career.

740

They're really eager to show people

how hard they can work and how smart

741

they are and how confident they are in

the business that they're going into.

742

And a lot of times that overshadows the

simple aspect of just walking into a room

743

and sitting down and listening listen and

interpret and find, find the things that.

744

work the best for you.

745

Don't be too in a hurry to get to any

one place, observe and, and listen and,

746

and see what, what gets you excited, what

keeps you the most interested and then

747

focus on those things because Ultimately,

that's what takes you where you want

748

to go as quickly as you can get there.

749

Steve Turk: That's great advice and

a good place to end our conversation.

750

Ryan, time flew by here.

751

I could have kept talking to you

here, but make sure listeners

752

check out my place hotels.

753

He's building something special

in the extended stay market.

754

And if somebody wants to get

in touch with you, Ryan, what's

755

the best way they can do that?

756

Myplacehotels.

757

Ryan Rivett: com is a

great place to start.

758

Steve Turk: All right, Ryan,

thank you for joining us.

759

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